A Very Different Assembly? Gender, Ethnicity, Class and National Identity

Abstract

A significant part of Scotland sees itself as egalitarian and therefore as inclusive and non-hierarchical, accepting of difference and diversity. Implicit is that across numerous factors such as class and ethnicity, Scotland is less hidebound than England. McCrone has written that ‘the myth of egalitarianism’ is used to differentiate Scottish and English societies which have in many respects, socio-economically, become more similar, not more different, and has become ‘an ideological device for marking off the Scots from the English, which seems to grow in importance the more the two societies grow similar’ (1992: 120). This version of Scotland sits within the ‘official’ version of Scotland, one presented by the Scottish Government, public bodies and leading commentators. Here is one example that concerns equality and diversity:

Devolution has given Scotland the ability to establish a national framework for action which has equality and justice as one of its cornerstones. And diversity has now joined social inclusion in the leading refrains of political chorus. (Arshad and Kelly, 2005: 166)